Shippo's Christmas Wish
by Drake Clawfang
Summary: Twas the night before Christmas, and inside the hut, poor little Shippo was stuck in a rut. Kagome told him to ask for a gift from the sandy man, but Shippo doesn't know what to ask for, and even then it's a tall order to ask for on Christmas Eve.


**A little later than last's years, but my traditional Christmas one-shot is back! Enjoy.**

Shippo's Christmas Wish

"There's no way I can finish this in time!" Shippo wailed, thumping his head and crumpling up another piece of the notebook paper Kagome had brought him. Sango unfurled the paper and tried to read the kanji, already rough from Shippo's typical childish writing and not nay better after being crumpled.

"What's wrong Shippo?" She asked.

"Kagome said I have to ask for something before morning or I won't get it!" Shippo explained, grabbing a new crayon and scribbling again.

"Huh?" Sango muttered, confused.

"Kagome was by earlier when you were with Kaede." Miroku explained from across the hut. "She mentioned some tradition about asking some sort of 'sandy' man for gifts this time of year. It's a great tradition in her time for family and friends."

"So that's why she and Inuyasha aren't here." Sango mused. "So what are you asking for Shippo?"

"I don't know!" Shippo groaned. "Kagome said it's not nice to ask for too much."

"Well what do you have so far?" Sango asked. Shippo held up his paper.

"Pocky and chocolate and caramel and that toffee stuff I had last week and lollipops and Inuyasha to be nice and to find more jewel shards and…"

"Okay." Sango muttered, holding up her hands. "When do you have to ask by?"

"Kagome says that sandy guy is coming tonight! Even if I decide I'll never be able to tell him." Shippo complained.

"Did Kagome mention anything else about this tradition, I've never heard of it before." Sango asked, looking up at Miroku.

"Not much, no. I only remember half of it. All I know is she mentioned Shippo could ask for a gift." Sango looked out the door of Kaede's hut and sighed.

"Shippo, it's nearly morning anyway. I'm sure Kagome will bring you all those things and more in the morning. Let's just get some sleep." Kaede had already gone to rest in another maiden's hut to keep watch over her sick daughter, so Sango put out the fire and curled up on the futon in the corner, keeping an eye on Miroku and glaring at him when he started to move across the room.

Several hours later, Sango and Miroku lay asleep as Shippo was still writing. It seemed every time he tried to make a list, he asked for too much. But there wasn't really any one thing he wanted.

"Come on, think." Shippo muttered to himself, looking down at his last piece of paper, the others crumpled in the corner. He tapped his crayon against his mouth and frowned. "I can't believe this. Why couldn't Kagome be here, she'd help me figure it out. And Inuyasha would probably make some stupid baka-remark and get sat and mutter something…" Shippo trailed off, a grin coming across his face. He took his crayon and scribbled a handful of kanji, folding the paper up and running out into the snowy wilderness.

"Wait…how do I find the sandy guy?" Shippo whispered, looking around. Kagome hadn't mentioned how Shippo was supposed to tell him what he wanted. Shippo ran to the well and hopped up on the rim.

"Kago-meeeeeeee!" He called down, hoping maybe she heard him, although he knew better. Shippo sniffed and stepped down, trudging over to the forest and snuggling up against a tree. Maybe if she came back early enough he could find out and tell him in time.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Wake up Shippo." A hand nudged the kitsune gently, and Shippo yawned. He sleepily opened his eyes and looked up at the blurry mess of white and red standing over him.

"Inuyaaaaaasha?" He yawned again.

"Is this really what you want?" Inuyasha asked, holding up a piece of paper. "Even I'm not sure I can give that to you Shippo. I have lots of chocolate though." Shippo shifted and shook his head.

"I want it, even if I may not get it." He replied, slipping back to sleep. Inuyasha nodded, and Shippo nodded back, this time nodding right off to sleep. As he slipped away, he couldn't help but think Inuyasha looked a lot bigger than normal.

- - - - - - - - - -

Shippo felt something on his chin and slowly opened his eyes. He wiped the snowflake off his face and sat up. He looked up at the low light of the cloudy sky and gasped.

"I didn't give him my letter!" He complained. He looked around and gasped, not seeing the letter in question anywhere. He smelt a familiar scent, and realized he had missed a lot more too. "Kagome." He whispered, turning around. He scampered out from behind the tree and made it a few feet to the well before he stopped in his tracks.

Kagome sat on the side of the well. Inuyasha sat with her, except….Shippo's face grew red as he noticed Kagome's arm wrapped around the hanyou's waist, and her face was…

"Oops." Shippo hissed, slowly tip-toeing back into the woods. He looked back at the embracing twosome and thought back to his missing letter.

"Meh." He shrugged, walking back to the village. "It's a start."


End file.
